The
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has taken a number of steps to prevent road
accidents as per details mentioned under:
(i) The Government has approved a
National Road Safety Policy. This Policy outlines various measures such as
promoting awareness, establishing road safety information data base,
encouraging safer road infrastructure including application of intelligent transport,
enforcement of safety laws etc.
(ii) The Government has constituted
the National Road Safety Council as the apex body to take policy decisions in
matters of road safety.
(iii) The Ministry has requested all
States/UTs for setting up of State Road Safety CouncilS and District Road
Safety Committees, and to hold their meetings regularly.
(iv) The Ministry has formulated a
multi-pronged strategy to address the issue of road safety based on 4 ‘E’s viz.
Education, Engineering (both of roads and vehicles), Enforcement and Emergency
Care.
(v) Road safety has been made an
integral part of road design at planning stage.
(vi) Road Safety Audit of selected
stretches of National Highways.
(vii) Setting up of model driving training institutes
in states and refresher training to drivers of Heavy Motor Vehicle in the
unorganized sector.
(viii) Advocacy/Publicity campaign on road safety
through the electronic and print media.
(ix) Tightening of safety standards for vehicles like seat
belts, power-steering, anti-lock braking system etc.
(x) Providing cranes and ambulances to various state governments
under the National Highway Accident Relief Service Scheme for deployment on
National Highways. National Highways Authority of India also provides
ambulances at a distance of 50 Km. on each of its completed stretches of
National Highways under its Operation & Maintenance contracts.
(xi) Identification and rectification of black spots
(accident prone spots)
(xii) Launch of pilot projects for providing cashless
treatment of road accident victims on Gurgaon – Jaipur, Vadodara – Mumbai
stretch of National Highways No. 8 and Ranchi – Rargaon - Mahulia stretch of
National Highway No. 33.
Global Status Report
2015 on Road Safety has been released by World Health Organization (WHO).
Total number of 1,37,572 road fatalities in India during the year 2013 has been
reported in the said publication. Persons killed in road accidents in terms of
road user category has been reported as under:
|
Road user
|
Persons killed.
|
|
Drivers 4-wheeled cars and light vehicles
|
7%
|
|
Passengers 4-wheeled cars and light vehicles
|
10%
|
|
Riders motorized 2- or 3-wheelers
|
34%
|
|
Cyclists
|
4%
|
|
Pedestrians
|
9%
|
|
Drivers/passengers heavy trucks
|
13%
|
|
Drivers/passengers buses
|
7%
|
|
Other
|
16%
|
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
has been impressing from time to time to road Authorities to comply with Road
Safety Norms during design, construction and operation of roads including
National Highways.
This information was given by Minister of State
for Road Transport & Highways, Shri Pon. Radhakrishnan in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.
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MA/NP/RS